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Two years ago the Panama City Field Office, through the East Gulf Coastal Program, embarked on an initiative to work more closely with county planners and their GIS staff. The goals of the initiative were to get natural resource, conservation data into the hands of the counties and provide them with technical assistance on what the data are and how to use these data. To achieve this goal we held a workshop called the Panhandle GIS and Natural Resources Workshop. We invited county planners and their GIS staff, or their representative(s), to this 1 1/2 day workshop. We brought in some of the states top landscape conservation spatial planners/modelers to talk about the premier data sets they have created, how these data should and shouldn’t be used, and how they might be used in the planning process. The workshop was a blend of presentations, hands-on working with the data, and facilitated group discussion. The response, at the end of the workshop was resoundingly positive, so much so they asked to make this an annual event. It was apparent this was a need that was not being fulfilled by any other group or program.
This previously this year we held our 2nd Annual Panhandle GIS and Natural Resources Workshop. The format was expanded to include planner-specific breakout sessions and GIS breakout sessions. We also provided the counties an opportunity to share with their peers the work they are doing for the resource. This initiative has been a real rewarding experience and has allowed us to partner with individuals that we ordinarily would not have had the opportunity to partner with. The workshop will continue to be held in the spring for the foreseeable future and be sponsored by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s East Gulf Coastal Program.
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